"Whatever became of the Iceberg that sunk the RMS Titanic?"

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"SS United States" by Ace Preston Philadelphia

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There were many theories to what became of the iceberg which collided with the Titanic. One speculation stated by a scientist at the jet propulsion lab that the hit the iceburg sustained by the Titanic sent it adrift back towards the north pole where it  eventually lodged itself with the continent of Greenland till NASA satellites observed it breaking off in May 2002 as one of the largest icebergs ever recorded, named "C-19."

Geologists stated this was not possible because C-19 separated from the western face of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica when it splashed into the Ross Sea. Antarctica lies to the southern hemisphere(south celestial pole). Greenland borders the North Atlantic Ocean southeast and is south of the Arctic Ocean.

The same situation had been pulled in 1992 when an earlier giant iceberg that had been grounded off Antarctica floated free and split in two. The larger chunk, called B-10A was about 24 miles wide and 48 miles long roughly the size of Rhode Island. At the time certain scientist did not know the difference between the northern and southern polar caps though the exact location of the Titanic was confirmed on September 1, 1985 the Hubble Telescope wasn't launched till April 1990.

Years later another report of the so-called Titanic iceburg emerged out of a company located in Sunset Park Brooklyn New York. The company started distributing bottled water with the brand name "Poler Spring" from what they claimed were the remnants of the melting iceberg that the Titanic struck . It became an overnight sensation with die hard fans of the Titanic.

Later on investigative reporters accused the company "Poler Spring" of fraud when it was revealed that the source of the Titanic H2O turned out to be plain New York City tap water.   

Four individuals named Flaco, Gordo, Shorty, and Evans were quickly arrested and detained however the brains of the outfit an attorney called Weinstock was quickly released from police custody.  

"The Poler Spring Four" as they became known turned out to be four homeless men living within the New York City sheltar system. 

The four had complained that public assistance, medicaid, and food stamps weren't enough to support a heroin/crack habit.

"We were selling water so fast we had to fill the bottles with toilet water!" said Flaco.  

"We ran out of bottles real fast and had to pick some from the trash!" admitted Shorty.

Jose a friend of Flaco said "I knew one day he would be famous." The two had dropped out of James Buchanan High School together in the ninth grade after becoming disillusioned with the teaching methods of Mr. Kotter.

Of the four Shorty had recently been arrested for an apparant robbery were he attempted to use pepper spray on the victims but held the can backwards thus pepper spraying himself. He escaped from police custody at the local precinct by walking out the door backwards still in handcuffs when the desk sergeant failed to observe him. Officer Krupke was very upset.

All four perpetrators had previous criminal records as well as serving state and local prison time. Still at large is Tony who drove the delivery truck to local bodegas. Police never decided to press charges on him.

The four faced multiple charges to include lengthy jail time except Evans who was found hung in his prison cell by the night guard...however charges against Weinstock were dismissed. Flaco received a suspended sentence. Gordo received four years federal time and Shorty once again escaped from police custody. Police are still looking for him but can't see him. 

"I've been framed!!" said Gordo as he was hurled away from the police vehicle.

A similar stunt was pulled by Falco from Philadephia who attempted to pass off collectable items from the "SS United States" as the RMS Titanic. The "SS United States" an ocean liner built in 1952 was the largest ocean liner to date built entirely in the USA and still holds the record for the fastest transatlantic westbound crossing. Falco was exposed when items he had sold off as RMS Titanic had the label "Made In USA".  He was thrown overboard.

As far as the actual iceburg it was believed to have melted shortly after it's encounter with the Titanic sometime in the earlier part of the 20th century as it moved southward into the warmer waters of the atlantic. 

The exact size of the iceberg will probably never be known but, according to early newspaper reports the height and length of the iceberg was approximated at 50 to 100 feet high and 200 to 400 feet long. "That would have been a lot of water." said Pointdexter from the jet propulsion lab.

In it's short existence the RMS Titanic was full of unusual stories. As ironic as it gets the "City of New York" also named the "SS New York" ocean liner while berthed in Southampton beside the "Oceanic" on April 10, 1912 was torn from her mooring as the Titanic went by. A collision was avoided when Captain Edward Smith of the Titanic ordered the port propeller in reverse while a nearby tugboat operator towed the New York away.

The Titanic which never made it to New York was suppose to dock at Chelsea Piers on West 20th street. Instead the Carpathia with the survivors docked at night on Little West 12th street. It then dropped off the empty lifeboats at Pier 59 before unloading the survivors at Pier 54. 

What made the story of the Titanic great was it's ability to capture our imagination..till then it was unknown what had really occurred since there were no photos, no newsreel, no survivors who went down with the ship...The ship itself didn't seem so great once it was located at the bottom of the ocean in pieces. The secret was gone..the mystique, mystery that shrouded the Titanic disappeared just as the once mighty ship disappeared neath the ocean surface but guys like Flaco, Gordo, and Shorty never disappear...